Mainer Anis is the Bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa & the Horn of Africa. Bishop Mainer honored us with a private visit. He spoke to us about his hope that all denominations of Christians (10%) & Muslim (90%) would work together to improve Egypt. Perhaps someday all religions, atheist, races & tribes in this world would accept each other and see that we are all the same. Couldn't agree more.
When he heard that we were Methodist, he told us that John Wesley was part of the Anglican Church. (Same as his.). He was proud of that.
The Bishop gave us a brief history of the Coptic Christian church (called Coptic Orthodox) in Egypt. It was founded by St. Mark, the writer of one of the books of the Bible who had come to Egypt as a refugee from Libya by walking along the Mediterranean Sea. He started the church in Alexandria in about 60 AD.
Maybe that's why this church, All Saints Church embraces the refugees today!!
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Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Update 36
Probably the spark that lit our fire to come to Egypt was a chance conversation with a most caring lady, Jo Penzien McDonald who attends our church. I think of these random coincidences as nudges from God.
Jo had had a terrible fall & we were there to take her a meal when in spite of her pain, she asked us about our winter plans. Having not really made any, we rattled of several possibilities. When we said Egypt, she excitedly told us that her late husband's cousin & family lived in Cairo. Jo looked up his contact info for us right then and there. So I did contact him. He replied, "Come...there's lots of volunteer work here!" So after quite a bit more internet search & prayers, I hit the jackpot...Refuge Egypt. Working with refugees just seemed to be the right thing to do this year.
So tonight we got to meet Jo's Egyptian family...who turned out to live just 2 minutes from where we are. Jo's cousin in law-they called Granny, her son Cherif & wife, Sharine and their two darling daughters who put on their fancy red dresses just for us.
We sat in their lovely living room nibbling on decadent desserts and had a lively conversation ranging from the old family homestead in Michigan to the current political scene in Egypt & USA.
Though I'm sure we could have talked for hours, we knew Cherif had to be at the hospital early (he's a pediatrician) so we said our good byes. Cherif insisted on walking us home & genuinely invited us to come back again soon!
Sent from my iPhone
Jo had had a terrible fall & we were there to take her a meal when in spite of her pain, she asked us about our winter plans. Having not really made any, we rattled of several possibilities. When we said Egypt, she excitedly told us that her late husband's cousin & family lived in Cairo. Jo looked up his contact info for us right then and there. So I did contact him. He replied, "Come...there's lots of volunteer work here!" So after quite a bit more internet search & prayers, I hit the jackpot...Refuge Egypt. Working with refugees just seemed to be the right thing to do this year.
So tonight we got to meet Jo's Egyptian family...who turned out to live just 2 minutes from where we are. Jo's cousin in law-they called Granny, her son Cherif & wife, Sharine and their two darling daughters who put on their fancy red dresses just for us.
We sat in their lovely living room nibbling on decadent desserts and had a lively conversation ranging from the old family homestead in Michigan to the current political scene in Egypt & USA.
Though I'm sure we could have talked for hours, we knew Cherif had to be at the hospital early (he's a pediatrician) so we said our good byes. Cherif insisted on walking us home & genuinely invited us to come back again soon!
Sent from my iPhone
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